Resource library · free toolkits, templates and guides
The practical library for people who build nonprofits
235 really practical toolkits, templates and guides for nonprofit and NGO leaders, and the consultants and funders who support them. A mix of the classics and newer methods.
Suggestions are welcome235 resources · 15 topics · 147 publishers · 218 free to use
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- Search: board role in leadership transitions
- 4.3C250
Avoiding the Glass Cliff
A short guide for boards hiring a new chief executive of color, written by BoardSource with Building Movement Project. It is set out in three stages: before a transition, during the search and handover, and after the new leader starts. For each stage it says what the board should do so the new leader does not inherit the whole job of advancing racial equity alone, from building an equity-centred culture before the search, to choosing a search firm with a track record of equitable hiring, to orientation, clear first-year goals and ongoing support.
CurrentKey manual or guideFree - 4.3C051
Founder Transitions
A guide for founders, long-serving executive directors and boards facing a founder transition. It explains the particular challenges when a founder or long-term leader steps down and how to plan for both planned and unplanned departures. It argues that supporting founders through the exit protects their legacy and the organisation. Boards and executives use it to prepare the handover, the search and the founder's next role. It is part of the Casey Foundation's executive transition series.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 4.3C053
Making Founder Successions Work
An article from the Spring 2018 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review, republished by Bridgespan. It questions the common advice that a founder should make a clean break when stepping down. The authors argue that many nonprofits gain when they plan a deliberate, bounded ongoing role for the departing founder. Boards, founders and successors use it to discuss what role the founder should keep and how to set its limits.
ClassicShort readFree - 4.3C054
Transiciones de liderazgo en la dirección ejecutiva
A practical Spanish-language guide for Latin American NGOs managing a change of executive director. It covers why transitions matter, preparing in advance, guidance for the outgoing director, key early decisions, a step-by-step hiring process, onboarding, the former director's board role and evaluating the process. It includes editable Word and Excel tools such as a transition plan, communication plan, job description, weighted selection criteria and candidate emails. It is licensed CC BY 4.0.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 4.3C055
How to Plan and Execute an Emergency Succession
A short Blue Avocado article on emergency succession plans, which cover a sudden leader absence for 1 to 3 months. It walks through 4 parts: naming first and second acting successors with limits on authority, or splitting the role's functions among staff; a ranked communications plan; and an operational checklist of contacts, accounts and key dates. It links to an editable Word template that a board and staff can complete in under 2 hours.
CurrentTool or templateFree
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